West Pittston comedian Ryan P. Flaherty will be on Netflix on Monday in a “Kill Tony” special, a spot he won by performing at Madison Square Garden on a few minutes’ notice.
It’s a big break for the 33-year-old Wilkes-Barre native who works in the maintenance field and has been performing regionally for about seven years.
Flaherty traveled to New York City for the Aug. 16 sold-out Madison Square Garden show in hope that his name would be pulled from a bucket for a one-minute time slot and chat with the celebrity panel.
“It’s a lot different from the 20 people we would usually see,” he said.
Flaherty did well enough to receive a “big joke book,” an actual joke book and one of three tokens of approval given by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and guests.
The show will air on Netflix, featuring well-known comedians and the other performers whose names were called.
The “Kill Tony” podcast has 2.3 million followers on YouTube. Podcast ratings vary by streaming service. In May, The New York Times reported “Kill Tony” was second only to podcast king Joe Rogan.
Flaherty doesn’t know what time the episode will be available.
He had time to poke fun at himself and fire off four jokes. He’s often nervous when he performs, so Madison Square Garden was typical in that sense.
“It was incredible,” he said. “It was very, very rewarding to hear that many people respond to your jokes after you have worked so hard on them for years. It was great.”
He describes his humor as “silly, sort of absurd, just general funny, not trying to take any particular targets.” He likes to use tiny props and sometimes talks about being a father.
Flaherty will appear at the Scranton Fringe Festival, which is Sept. 25 through Oct. 5.; and the NEPA Comedy Fest, Oct. 3-5, in Stroudsburg.
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